Arm Yourself with Low-Carb Knowledge

Overview

Low-carb dieting, an idea first championed by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1970s, gained renewed popularity after a 2002 "New York Times" article, "What If It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?" by Gary Taubes, made a strong case that changing your diet composition to favor protein over carbs would lead to weight loss and improved general health. Low-carb diets typically restrict consumption to between 20 and 100 grams of carbs per day -- far fewer than the 225 to 325 grams advised by the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

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Definition of Low Carb Bread

An average slice of white bread provides 12 to 13 grams of carbohydrate -- enough to put a serious dent in your carb budget, which may be limited to as few as 20 grams a day in the early phases of some diets. Although there's no set definition of "low-carb bread," manufacturers of such bread products typically claim a net carb content -- total carbs minus fiber carbs, which are indigestible -- of 6 to 8 grams per serving.

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What Are the Digestive Complications for Low Carbs?

Low-carb dieters sometimes complain of constipation and bloating. Eliminating high-carb grains and fruits from your diet also eliminates good sources of the fiber that facilitates digestion. You can remedy this by increasing your intake of low-carb, fiber-rich fruits such as berries, along with low-carb vegetables such as green beans, kale and cauliflower. Some dieters also use a psyllium supplement to help move things along.

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Does Low Carb Burn Muscle?

Low-carb eating does not force the body to burn muscle as long as it still has sufficient fat available. In fact, some bodybuilders move to a low-carb regimen before competition in order to eliminate remaining fat and get "cut." The body will, however, resort to consuming muscle in starvation situations when it has neither fat nor sufficient calories to sustain it.

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Can You Do Low Carb & Low Cal at the Same Time?

Low-carb diets are based on inducing a state of ketosis in the body. When deprived of incoming carbohydrates, the body uses up its glycogen reserves -- glucose stored in the muscles and liver -- and must resort to burning fat for energy. As a result, low-carb diets do not require dieters to restrict calories -- the idea is to change the composition of their diets to favor proteins and fats over carbs and eat to the point of reasonable satiety. Although dieters might in fact consume fewer calories than usual because of the increased satiety they get from protein, according to Atkins in his book "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," restricting calories too much could backfire by creating a "starvation" situation for which the body compensates by decreasing its metabolic rate and holding on to fat.

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Does Switching Between Low Fat, Low Cal & Low Carb Help to Mix Up Dieting?

Because low-carb diets rely on maintaining ketosis by depriving the body of incoming carbs, switching over to a low-fat or low-calorie diet that's higher in carbohydrates can immediately disrupt ketosis and inhibit weight loss. It's more important to stick to whichever regimen you choose for diet success, obesity researcher George Bray told "USA Today." Low-fat and low-calorie diets, because they tend to be high in carbs, can cause fluctuating blood sugar levels that leave you feeling hungrier.

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Low Carb Zucchini Spaghetti With Basil & Tomatoes

If you're following a low-carb diet, you can often mimic favorite high-carb foods with substitutes. An easy trick is to use shredded squash to stand in for pasta. Remove the ends from a zucchini and shred it lengthwise with a mandoline if you have one or use a knife to cut it into thin strips. Steam or saute the zucchini until it's slightly tender and then top it as you would spaghetti. Toss it with julienned fresh basil and diced tomatoes for more flavor -- but be careful with the tomatoes, which contain more carbohydrates than some vegetables and may be restricted if you're in the early phases of your diet.

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Does Eating Low-Carb Lower Serotonin?

Some low-carb dieters call it the "induction flu" -- a state of low mood and energy plus an assortment of bodily symptoms that can manifest during the earliest days of a low-carb diet. Serotonin levels may be the cause. Researcher Judith Wurtman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology told "Psychology Today" that her studies showed lowered serotonin levels in rats when they were fed a low-carb diet for several weeks. On his plan, Atkins advised dieters suffering from adverse effects during the induction, or first, phase to expect improvements in mood and energy after the first two weeks but to increase carb intake slightly if necessary.

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Does Low Carb Bread Contain Less Sugar?

Low-carb bread usually contains no sugar and gets its limited amount of carbs from white flour substitutes such as vital wheat gluten, soy flour, crushed nuts and meals made from seeds such as pumpkin. It also tends to be very high in fiber, an indigestible carbohydrate that has no impact on blood sugar levels and whose presence in a food lowers its net carb count, which is the total grams of carbs minus the grams of carbs from fiber.

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Does Eating Low Carb Strengthen Muscles?

Eating low-carb does not strengthen muscles; only exercise can do that. Muscles gain strength and mass when you use them strenuously enough to cause microscopic tears, which the body then repairs, gradually building them. Losing weight on a low-carb regimen, however, can make the muscle you already have more visible. And the high-protein intake required on a typical low-carb diet provides your body with the amino acids it needs to build muscle strength and power.

How Many Carbohydrates to Eat on Low Carb Diets?

Low-carb diets generally require a limit of 20 to 100 grams of carbs per day, depending on the phase of the diet and the dieter's exercise level, history of insulin resistance and a few other factors. Perhaps the best known low-carb diet, Atkins, requires adherents to follow four phases. During the first two weeks, known as "induction," dieters are limited to 20 grams of carbohydrates per day, obtained by eating mostly animal proteins, fats and specific vegetables. In subsequent phases, carb allotments gradually increase as dieters meet their goals. Similarly, the South Beach Diet requires dieters to eliminate all sugar and starchy foods including grains, fruits and most dairy products during its initial phase, gradually adding them back in later phases.